The Comics Canon

We all know the story: Rocket escapes exploding planet. Elderly couple adopts alien baby. Baby grows up to become the most powerful superhero of all time. But today's Man of Steel is very different from the one we get in his first-ever adventure, as originally recounted in 1938's groundbreaking Action Comics #1—and expanded upon a year later in his own magazine, Superman #1, both published by DC C...

Listen here, Anti-Monitor! Wiping out countless realities and snuffing out untold billions of lives is one thing. But when you step to the Maid of Steel ... well, now you've gone and made it personal ! In what may be our longest episode ever, we close the book on the epic 12-issue event that closed the book on the DC multiverse—Crisis on Infinite Earths, by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, published...

Like the animator's giant eraser in Chuck Jones' classic Merrie Melodies short "Duck Amuck," a wave of anti-matter sweeps across countless realities, obliterating everything in its path until only a handful of universes are left in the epic 12-issue event Crisis on Infinite Earths, by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, published by DC Comics! Aided by the mysterious Monitor, some of comics' greatest h...

You finally achieve your lifelong goal—absolute dominion over all of creation, not to mention the wife of your bitterest rival—only to find that godhood isn't everything you'd hoped for. We've all been there, right? Victor Von Doom certainly has, in the epic 2015 miniseries Secret Wars, by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic, published by Marvel Comics! Join us as we answer the burning questions: Can...

The all-powerful Beyonder transports some of Earth's mightiest heroes and villains to a patchwork planet known as Battleworld, conveniently outfitted with high-tech ships and fortresses! His one command: "Slay all your enemies and all you desire shall be yours!" Thus begins one of comics' first and most famous multi-part crossover epics: Secret Wars, written by Marvel Comics editor in chief Jim Sh...

  In this episode, we get into the spooky spirit of Halloween with a look at Through the Woods, a collection of unsettling horror stories by cartoonist Emily Carroll , as well as a trio of chilling and inventive webcomics: Margot's Room , Some Other Animal's Meat , and the Eisner Award-winning When the Darkness Presses ! Through the Woods weaves a dark fantasy setting that echoes the classic horro...

Just in time for the Oct. 4 release of Todd Phillips' Joker movie, Curt and Kevin are joined by Atlanta actress and comics fan Jennifer Lee for a timely (and faintly explicit) discussion of the 1989 graphic novel Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean, published by DC Comics! On April Fools' Day, the inmates, led by the Joker, have taken over Arkham Asyl...

In this episode, Crimewave!, our series on gritty crime comics, comes to a rollicking (and not entirely swear word-free) conclusion with the "Mommy and Clyde" graphic novel Bastard, written and drawn by Belgian cartoonist Max de Radiguès, published in America by Fantagraphics Books! After taking part in a massive heist that targeted 52 different locations in the same city at the same time, May and...

In this episode, Crimewave!, our series on gritty crime comics, rolls on with Death Chases Me, the first volume of the James Ellroy-meets-H.P. Lovecraft occult noir Fatale, written and drawn by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, published by Image Comics! In 1950s San Francisco, reporter Dominic Henry Raines meets with the mysterious and attractive Josephine, girlfriend of corrupt police detective Wal...

In this episode, Crimewave!, our series on gritty crime comics, continues with a fictionalized account of the real, ripped-from-the-1930s-headlines case of the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run , co-written and "executed" by one of the biggest names in comics before he was one of the biggest names in comics: It's Torso, by Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko, originally published by Image Comics! Be...

In this episode, Crimewave!, our series on gritty crime comics, continues with Darwyn Cooke's crackling adaptation of The Hunter! Beautifully illustrated in black, white and teal, this stylized revenge tale from IDW Publishing is the first in a four-part series adapting novels about the career criminal Parker by the late Donald E. Westlake, writing as Richard Stark. Physically imposing and intense...

In this hard-boiled episode, we kick off Crimewave!, a series of episodes on gritty crime comics, complete with its own theme song! And for our money, there ain't no better way to get things rolling than by jawing about Frank Miller's bare-knuckled Sin City: The Hard Goodbye, published by Dark Horse Comics, see? Here's the thing about Basin City—it's the kinda place where a hulking bruiser like Ma...

In this episode, our look back at 80s mutant mania continues with The Demon Bear Saga from The New Mutants Vol. 1 #18-20, and the follow-up double-sized story Slumber Party from #21, by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz, published by Marvel Comics! Danielle Moonstar, haunted by visions of the monster that killed her parents, summons it to a showdown on the snow-covered grounds of Xavier's Schoo...

In this episode, we welcome Tedd Walley , writer, artist and publisher of Mathilda: The Forces of Evil vs. The Third Grade , as we travel to the distant future of 2013 for a discussion of the landmark X-Men storyline Days of Future Past from Uncanny X-Men #141-142, and finish it off with Demon from #143, by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, published by Marvel Comics! In a dystopian future America r...

In this episode, we temporarily set aside our "clean" rating to wind up our four-part series on Watchmen with a discussion issues #10-12 of the landmark comic-book series written by Alan Moore, drawn by Dave Gibbons, and published by DC Comics! As President Richard Nixon prepares to launch nuclear missiles, Nite Owl and Rorschach discover that the person behind the Comedian's death and Dr. Manhatt...

Like sands through the hourglass, our four-part series on Watchmen continues with a look at issues #7-9 of the groundbreaking comic series written by Alan Moore, drawn by Dave Gibbons, and published by DC Comics! As the world marches closer to the brink of nuclear war, Dan Drieberg and Laurie Juspeczyk become lovers. They also defy the nation's ban on costumed heroes and rescue the residents of a...

Like clockwork, our four-part gaze into the abyss of Watchmen continues as we analyze the hidden meanings of the inkblots contained in issues #4-6, written by Alan Moore, drawn by Dave Gibbons, published by DC Comics! Alone on Mars, Dr. Manhattan examines his past, jumping back and forth through time as he recalls the accident that gave him his godlike powers. Back on an Earth growing increasingly...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin start the clock, kicking off a four-part exploration of one of the most acclaimed comic book series of all time with a look at Watchmen #1-3, written by Alan Moore, drawn by Dave Gibbons, and published by DC Comics! In an alternate-reality version of 1985, a man named Edward Blake is thrown to his death from his penthouse apartment. Investigating this Manhattan murd...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin mark the 1,000th issue of Detective Comics and the 80th birthday of Batman with a look back at three early milestones in the career of DC Comics' mega-popular Caped Crusader—beginning with his first appearance (as "The Bat-Man") in Detective Comics #27 from 1939! From there, it's on to the world's best-known origin story from 1939's Detective Comics #33! And last bu...

In this episode, a week ahead of the April 12 debut of the Hellboy movie, Curt and Kevin awaken ancient spirits to explore the origin of everyone's favorite wisecracking monster-hunter in 1994's Hellboy: Seed of Destruction by Mike Mignola and John Byrne, published by Dark Horse Comics! During World War II, the Russian psychic Rasputin conjures an otherdimensional being to help the Nazi war effort...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin wrap up their series on comics' Captains Marvel (and prepare for the April 5 release of Shazam! ) with a look at the Big Red Cheese himself , the original Captain Marvel, aka Shazam, in 1940's Whiz Comics #2 and 2007's Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil, written and drawn by Jeff Smith and published by DC Comics! In Bill Parker and C.C. Beck's charming origin story...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin look toward the March 8 debut of Captain Marvel with a look at two key stories featuring Carol Danvers:  In Pursuit of Flight (Captain Marvel Vol. 7, #1-6) and 1977's Ms. Marvel #1, published by Marvel Comics! The former Air Force pilot has come a long way since her first outing as a superhero, which sees her flying into action against the backdrop of the women's li...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin prepare for the March 8 debut of Captain Marvel with the first of two episodes on Marvel Comics characters with that name! First up: the Kree warrior Mar-Vell, as seen in The Thanos War from Captain Marvel Vol. 1, #27-33! This Captain Marvel was an alien soldier who became a superheroic protector of Earth in order to capitalize on a lapsed trademark. In these issues...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin prepare for the Feb. 15 debut of The Umbrella Academy on Netflix with a look at The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, published by Dark Horse Comics! Brimming with inventive energy, this engaging miniseries follows a group of extraordinary children—each born to women showing no signs of pregnancy on the same night—adopted by inventor S...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin brave the fire-pits of Apokalips to discuss one of the most critically acclaimed series of the year, Mister Miracle #1-12 by Tom King and Mitch Gerads, published by DC Comics! Something is wrong with Scott Free, the New God who is also the celebrity escape artist known as Mister Miracle. Following a failed suicide attempt, his perception is plagued by glitches and h...